Conventional intramedullary nails are configured to be inserted into the medullary canal of a long bone that has been fractured so as to define a proximal bone segment and a distal bone segment that is separated from the proximal bone segment by a bone gap. Conventional intramedullary nails are elongate along a substantially central longitudinal axis, and include a plurality of bone anchor holes that extend through the nail along respective axes that are angularly offset, for instance perpendicular, with respect to the longitudinal axis of the intramedullary nail, and configured to receive bone anchors. For instance, the bone anchor holes can be substantially smooth and configured to receive screws, or can be threaded so as to mate with screws to increase axial stability. The bone anchor holes can be divided into a first plurality of proximal bone anchor holes that extend through the proximal portion of the intramedullary nail and a second plurality of distal bone anchor holes that extend through the distal portion of the intramedullary nail. Thus, the intramedullary nail can be inserted into the medullary canal of the fractured long bone such that the proximal bone anchor holes are aligned with the proximal bone segment and the distal bone anchor holes are aligned with the distal bone segment on opposite sides of the bone gap. The bone screws can be driven into the bone segments and the corresponding bone anchor holes so as to fasten the intramedullary nail to the fractured long bone and stabilize the proximal and distal bone segments relative to each other, thereby promoting healing.
Certain conventional intramedullary nails include compression features that cause the proximal and distal bone segments to compress toward each other, thereby approximating the bone gap. For instance, screws can be inserted into the distal bone segment and the distal bone anchor holes of the intramedullary nail so as to fix the distal bone segment to the distal intramedullary nail, and the compression feature can be actuated to cause the proximal bone segment to translate relative to the intramedullary nail toward the distal bone segment. However, certain conventional compression features, while facilitating the approximation of the bone gap, are not self-retaining. Accordingly, compression is maintained manually while fixing the distal bone segment to the distal portion of the intramedullary nail. Other compression features are self-retaining so as to maintain approximation of the bone gap while the distal bone segment is fixed to the distal portion of the intramedullary nail. However, conventional self-retaining compression features typically add movable components in the intramedullary nail and are time consuming and complex to use.